Three rounds remain in the Arcane tournament, so it's time to start getting things ready for the next contest: Gladiator Tournament II.

Below you will find a preview of the rules, and I'm currently considering implementing them. There are quite a few changes from the last tournament. Some were made in reponse to issues that arrose there, others to compensate for the differing level of the tournament this time around. I'm posting them now to give people a chance to provide feedback on them before character creation begins.

Changes, if needed, will be marked in red.

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Glatiator Tournament II: The Professionals

IC Announcement
Here ye, here ye! The great and humble Duke Soloth of Wildenberg is holding a gladiator tournament. Gladiators of all races and styles are invited to compete in an event that will test their mettle and win them great fame. Contestants will have to prove their mettle by surviving a match in which they are pitted against a creature from the arena stables, so only serious competitors need apply.

OOC Rules
The tournament will be run and moderated solely by me (Black Plauge). I will arrange the matches, adjudicate them, roll all the dice, determine all the results...which will be made public within these boards. I am functioning as "DM" for the match, and adjudicating all OOC matters. IC matters are adjudicate by the various IC judges (mentioned below in reference to their respective areas of responsibility).

Matches will take place on a play-by-post basis. From when the match starts, participants will have 24 hours to post their move, starting from when the moderator (myself) posts the beginning of the match, or the results of the opponent's last move. Weekends are excepted from this rule, extending the time frame to the same time on Monday that it would have been on Saturday. If the match is updated over the weekend, then the next player has until Tuesday at the time of the weekend update to post their move.

Failing to post on time forfeits your actions during that round. Victors in earlier rounds will have a full 24 in-game hours to rest, be healed, pray and rememorize (as needed) prior to the next day's match. While each round of the Tournament will proceed simultaneously, in reality they're taking place over the course of an afternoon.

While the IC announcement invites gladiators of all races and styles, it also indicates that competitors will be divided into classes according to ability and size. I will only be running the tournament for one class at this time. Please see the rules below for the restrictions on characters.

A board member may submit up to two gladiators to compete. However, because the tournament is double elimination, if more than 16 board members sign up to participate, I may ask those with two entries to drop one so that this tournament doesn't last forever.

IC RulesThe Tournament
The qualifying round will consist of a grand melee with all contestants in the arena at once. The battle will last 1 minute (10 rounds) during which contestants will do what they can to impress the crowd.

Double elimination, bracketed tournament (See previous tournament bracket). Seeding will be based on Crowd Attitude Score after the qualifying round. Note: Since the tournament is double elimination the Loser’s Bracket winner must beat the Winner’s Bracket winner twice in order to be champion. The Winner’s Bracket winner need only beat the Loser’s Bracket Winner once.

The first round of all matches is for introductions and showmanship to influence crowds (normally a Perform (weapon drill) check, but other forms of showmanship are allowed). In all matches the monster will be restrained during this round via an appropriate hold spell. This round will not count towards the time limit of the grand melee.

As a result of first round, there is no surprise round and neither contestant is flat-footed when combat begins on round 2.

During the first 3 rounds of combat (round 2, 3, & 4), all damage dealt must be non-lethal damage. These participants are supposed to be professional gladiators and it is unprofessional to kill a fellow gladiator. This non-lethal damage provides an additional buffer beyond the normal negative hit point range to ensure that all gladiators survive their match.
In the case of a gladiator violating this rule, said gladiator will suffer the crowd attitude penalty for cheating and their opponent will be the recipient of sufficent healing to remove the damage before the match is allowed to continue. The cost of said healing will be charged to the offending gladiator.

At the end of the tournament, if there is a clear fan favorite (i.e. the competitor with the highest crowd attitude, with a tie for this position nullifying the effect.), and they are not the champion, they will be granted a bonus match against the champion to unseat them.

Character Creation

32 Point Buy

ECL 17

Familiars, animal companions, and special mounts are permitted, but cohorts are not.

Characters must be medium or small in size. Note: Using alternate form or similar effects to assume the form of a creature outside of this size range for the duration of the match is considered to be the same as being large or larger and therefore not allowed (an individual using such tactics would be promoted to the appropriate size class). Size change effects are limited to five rounds in duration.

HP will follow the RPGA standard (max on first HD, half die size +1 for rest).

Spellcasters with a spellbook or similar artifact must submit a list of spells in their spellbook with their character. Characters should have a reasonable number of spells, listings of “all spells of 2nd level and lower” and the like will be disqualified.

Templates are prohibited.

The point of this match is for all participants to have fun, as such, participants are encouraged to build varied and interesting characters, and not simply try to build to win. To encourage this, any board member can raise an objection to a participant on the grounds of them being overpowered and an unfair match up for the other opponents. This objection is subject to review by me. If I deem the objection to have merit I can, at my sole discretion, either force the participant be revised to fix the violation or outright disqualify them. Objections can be raised through the end of the qualifying round. I also reserve the right to force revisions or disqualify competitors I deem unfair even without a board member objecting. Once the bracketed matches begin, the contestants are set and objections will no longer be entertained. (What is happening IC when a character is disqualified in this manner is that the character is being reassigned to a different class.)

All characters must have maximum ranks in either Perform (Weapon Drill) or Profession (Gladiator). Characters for this round are supposed to be professional gladiators.

All characters must have a “signature” which is unique to them. A signature can consist of an unusual armament set, a tactical feat, a weapon style feat, or a PrC fighting style. Signatures must be declared when characters are submitted. Signatures are subject to review for visibility and uniqueness and, in the case of two persons requesting the same signature, granted on a first come first serve basis.

Low obstructions are 2 ½' tall. Diagonal moves past a low obstruction are allowed for any creature of medium or larger size. Smaller creatures must go around as if rounding a corner. Note: Walls which are oriented in the direction of travel are an exception to this rule. Any creature may move diagonally along the wall.

High obstructions are 5' tall. Diagonal moves past a high obstruction are allowed for any creature of large or larger size. Smaller creatures must go around as if rounding a corner. Note: Walls which are oriented in the direction of travel are an exception to this rule. Any creature may move diagonally along the wall.

Tall obstructions are 10' tall. Diagonal moves past a tall obstruction are allowed for any creature of gargantuan or larger size. Smaller creatures must go around as if rounding a corner. Note: Walls which are oriented in the direction of travel are an exception to this rule. Any creature may move diagonally along the wall.

Chained monsters are confined to a 10' radius circle (i.e large animals must remain adjacent to the stake that holds them down, medium creatures can have one empty square between them and this stake, huge animals must remain over that stake) and will attack anyone entering its reach (barring some outside influence). The chain can be broken (Str DC 26, Hardness 10, 5 hp) to free the monster, in which case it will attack the closest other being, competitor or monster (again, barring some outside influence). Monsters are chosen from the following list: Dire Elephant, Dire Bear, Elephant, Dire Elk, Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Dire Tiger, Gaspar, Bulette, Chimera, Dragonne, Gray Glutton, Remorhaz, Behir, Gorgon, Gray Render, Yrthak.

Constructs have orders to stay within a 10' radius circle and attack any competitor they can reach. Constructs are chosen from the following list: Clay Golem, Flesh Golem, Stone Golem, Shield Guardian, Grave Dirt Golem, level 7 Ectopic form astral construct, level 6 astral construct created by a Constructor, and Warforged Titan.

Neither chained monsters, nor constructs will be present in the arena during the grand melee.

Walls and hedges may be oriented in any cardinal direction (N-S, E-W, NE-SW, or NW-SE), chosen randomly at the beginning of the match. 5' walls can be rotated as a standard action. 10' walls can be rotated as a full-round action. Hedges can only be rotated by an individual with Str 22 or higher (i.e one with sufficient strength to drag them). Doing so takes a full-round action. Tall walls cannot be rotated.

Standing or walking on top of a wooden wall requires a DC 15 Balance check.

Standing or walking on top of the Tall Wall (which is made of stone) requires a DC 10 Balance check.

Standing or walking on top of a hedge requires a DC 25 Balance check.

Climbing to the top of the Keeper’s building is a DC 20 Climb check. It is 10ft tall.

The moat is 15' deep, and filled with very murky water. A creature 5ft underwater has concealment from any attacks out of the water. A creature 10ft underwater has total concealment. Creatures underwater have concealment from other creatures 5ft away from them and total concealment from creatures 10ft away from them. This is in addition to the normal rules for underwater combat in the DMG.

Climbing the exterior wall is a DC 20 Climb check. It is 20ft tall. Archers stationed on the wall will fire on anyone attempting to climb it.

Walls (except for the tall wall) and platforms are made of wood and can be moved by the contestants. Picking one up is a standard action, and a character’s subsequent movement is constrained by their load.

Dragging is a full round action that allows a character to move the object a distance equal to their speed. Given the surface of the arena grounds, a character can drag up to 4 times their maximum load.

Contestants’ starting position (and the starting position for familiars and/or animal companions, if applicable) is chosen randomly.

Map Keys:

Crowd Attitude
Whether for profit or to distract the masses, the purpose of any gladiator match is to entertain the masses. If the masses don’t like what they see, then they won’t keep coming to the games. In order to simulate this and encourage participants to play to the crowd, all participants will have a crowd attitude score, which is a measure of how well liked (or hated) a gladiator is by the fictional crowd that attends the matches. Having a high score provides a gladiator with certain benefits, while having a low one penalizes them (see table).

The crowd starts the tournament with Attitude 0 towards all competitors.

Other flashy actions will be considered at my discretion. Actions I approve will be added to the table.

While toying with your opponent can be entertaining to the crowd, the same action over and over again is boring. As such, you will only receive a crowd attitude bonus for a particular type of action once until at least 2 other crowd attitude modifications take place (either by you or your opponent).

In order to prevent gladiators from digging themselves a hole they can’t get out of, or putting themself so high up that they don’t have to worry about falling, only half of a gladiator’s attitude score carries over from match to match.

A beloved gladiator who is raised starts the next match with Attitude 0 (See rules on recovery between matches below).

In addition to the fictional crowd, there is also the crowd of other board members following the matches. In order to gauge their reactions to the competitors each match will also be a poll, allowing board members to pick their favorite competitor. Poll options will contain both a positive and negative evaluation of each competitor and multiple selections will be allowed. The poll will remain open for two days after the conclusion of the match to allow board members the chance to vote after seeing the entirety of the match. When the voting closes the competitor will receive a modification to their crowd attitude score equal to the number of positive evaluations they receive minus the number of negative evaluations they receive. This modification will occur before their carry over to the next round is calculated.

Note: If you fail any of the above actions and a negative consequence happens as a result, the Attitude towards you worsens instead.
Note: Any particular spell can only grant a crowd bonus once, even with multiple castings.

Note: The morale bonus/penalty to damage does not apply to spells. Motivation plays no role in how a spell does damage.

Recovery Between Matches
Matches are monitored by clerics ready to stabilize any competitor in the negatives with a reach cure minor wounds (this allows coverage of the entire arena by 4 clerics without them being on the field of combat).

It is the gladiator’s responsibility to prepare themselves for their next match. Clerics are available to cast healing spells, but gladiators will be charged the standard rate for spellcasting.

Equipment
The total value of a contestant’s equipment for use in the ring is limited by the NPC Gear Value table in the DMG p. 127.

A character is further allowed an equal amount of wealth which can be used in between matches to repair damaged equipment, replace destroyed equipment, pay for healing (including being raised from the dead), etc. Note: These funds cannot be used to replace single use items which were used up in the match.

Single use items cost five times their list value and will not be replenished in between rounds. Expensive spell components count as single use items.Clarification: Wands, and other items with charges, count as single use items. However, they can be purchased at either 5x cost fully charged, or at normal cost with 1/5th the normal number of charges (so 10 charages for a wand).Further Clarification: Ammunition does not count as a single use item, despite the fact that it is destroyed most of the time upon use.

Custom magic items are prohibited, although armors and weapons can be created using the standard abilities and costs.

In the case of signatures which are dependant on the use of certain items (such as the weapons required by a weapon style feat), those items are discounted 25%.

Mounts count as equipment and must be paid for. The same rules that govern character recovery govern mount recovery between matches.

MagicPsionics: The psionics/magic transparency is in full effect. All tournament rules which apply to magic apply equally to psionics.

Contestants may not have any active spell effects at the time competition commences.

Contestants will be checked by an attendant wizard (Wiz 15, using greater arcane sight) prior to the beginning of their match to ensure compliance with the above rules.

Spells cast during the match are limited to the spell and caster level of a straight classed ranger.Clarification: Feats and items which modify a spell's effective level or a character's caster level do not modify this restriction. The straight classed ranger mentioned here is assumed to be a human without these feats or items.

Spells which are not flashy (i.e. do not have noticeable visible effects) are restricted to those of a personal nature.

Spells which deal damage directly to your opponents are prohibited, however spells are allowed to deal damage indirectly. E.g. Fireball deals fire damage to your opponent(s) directly and is thus prohibited. Flame arrow, however, deals damage indirectly by adding fire damage to your normal ranged attacks and is thus allowed.Clarification: The use of touch range spells to damage your opponent with a melee touch attack falls under the restriction against spells directly damaging your opponent. However, delivering a touch spell with an unarmed strike or a natural weapon counts as the spell enhancing your attack and is thus allowed.

Death effects and spells or abilities which carry a significant chance of outright killing the target (such as disintegrate) are prohibited, regardless of any flashy effects they might have.

Spells which are deemed illegal under the above rules will be countered or dispelled by one of the attending casters. If the effect cannot be countered or dispelled immediately the judge will halt the match until the effect expires or can be reversed.

__________________
Physics is like sex. Sometimes it yields practical results, but that's not why we do it.
-Richard Feynman

You mention that Resounding Blow, from the Book of Exalted Deeds, is permited. I take that to mean you have said book or could reveiw said material. So, what about the feat Subduing Strike, from, obviously, BoED? It seems rather appropriate for this setting, especially considering that the first 3 rounds of combat must deal nonlethal damage.

I personally think it needs some kind of prerequisite, but that's just my opinion.

I do have the BoED, but consider most of it totally inapprorpiate for a tournament setting, hence it being default prohibited. Subduing Strike, however, is actually okay and will be added to the list of exceptions.

The magic/psionic transparency, being the game default, is in effect.

__________________
Physics is like sex. Sometimes it yields practical results, but that's not why we do it.
-Richard Feynman

Originally Posted by Black Plauge
Spells cast during the match are limited to the spell and caster level of a straight classed ranger.

”

I'm confused by this statement. Is it basically saying that you are only allowed to cast spells up to Fourth level and only have a caster level of 9 since that is what a Ranger has at level 17?

IRT generaljimx, the character is allowed to have NPC gear of 17th level. You can also fix broken items, replace items, etc. in between matches with equivelant funds, but you can't buy one-time items or replace one-time items as they are only supposed to be one-time items.

Originally Posted by LeadPal
Can particularly unusual usage of magic or psionics (within the bounds of the set limits, of course) count as a "signature," or must it be strictly martial?

”

This will be adjucated on a case by case basis. What did you have in mind?

“

Originally Posted by generaljimx
I may just be missing it, but how much gold do the characters get to equip themselves?

”

First line in the equipment section. If you don't have access to a DMG to look up the number, let me know. I don't want to post it publicaly because it's not OGL material.

“

Originally Posted by Noocytx
I'm confused by this statement. Is it basically saying that you are only allowed to cast spells up to Fourth level and only have a caster level of 9 since that is what a Ranger has at level 17?

”

That's the basic jist (though half of 17 is 8, not 9; fractions are always rounded down). However, since the restriction is on the spells cast during the match, and not the caster, your character can have a higher caster level, it's just that they will have to voluntarily supress it to no higher than 8th when casting spells during the match. The rule is written the way it is so that it applies to spell-like abilities and spells cast from items in addition to spells cast by characters.

__________________
Physics is like sex. Sometimes it yields practical results, but that's not why we do it.
-Richard Feynman

I'm talking size in terms of bytes, not size in terms of dimensions. The first is 111kB the second is 177kB. Now, both will be bigger once all the details for each match are added, but there is a limit of 250kB for uploaded images here. As a result, I'm more likely to have to lower the resolution limits on the second (nicer looking) one to get it to fit with full details than I am on the first.

__________________
Physics is like sex. Sometimes it yields practical results, but that's not why we do it.
-Richard Feynman